People being people, stolen Kleptrons are being put to nefarious ends. The story kicks off with Latternian biobots’ cockeyed solution: introduce to Earth the bioengineered predator that handled Kleptrons on Lattern. Unfortunately, these Flektanians turn out to be “meter-long creatures that look remarkably like dung beetles.” Complicating matters, as they help Maine doctors Ed and Helen Gilner track down Kleptrons, the Flektanians spit out radical speeches about resurrecting the reign of the trilobites, even vowing “to make arthropods great again.” As that suggests, Ringel’s satire edges at times toward the wacky, but like all good conjurers of speculative fiction his world is internally consistent, no matter how off-beat. Nothing here is scattershot, and despite the silly stuff the novel offers a smart, twisty investigation of how the powers that be use Kleptrons, complete with insights into 22nd century American politics and business.
The science, too, is dead serious despite the fun. The crisply told narrative, spiked with sharp comic dialogue and diplomatic crises, builds to real surprises and thoughtful ideas, demonstrating in the end that “A civilization's understanding of theoretical physics is far and away the best indicator of its overall maturity.” Ringel’s own blend of maturity and its opposite is idiosyncratic, but lovers of oddball comic SF will be on board.
Takeaway: Truly funny science-fiction satire, alive with ideas and fun.
Comparable Titles: Keith Laumer, Robert Sheckley.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B+
